The bus ride that changed Zach Williams

Before Zach Williams’ number one hit Chain Breaker, it was another song that spoke into his life and reshaped his heart. His life was off track when God used an an invitation to church, and a song to turn his life around,

“Actually the guitar player in my band at the time got an invitation to this humongous church in the town I live in now. It’s not a really big town; it’s about sixty thousand people. But the church was about seven thousand members, and I just remember saying that I would never go there because it’s not what I grew up in.”

“But, walking into it for the first time, it felt like exactly where I was supposed to be. We felt so at home and so welcome, and the staff really latched onto us and latched onto my wife and kids. We got involved in life groups and everything that we could get ourselves involved in, just kind of taking it all in.”

A new beginning had been made, but a return to a familiar scene was about to test it.

“So I left to go on tour about a month after going to church. I convinced myself that I could go on tour but things were going to be different. But I fell right back into my old lifestyle, and I did it for about a week. Then, while we were over there driving across Europe, Big Daddy Weave’s “Redeemer” came across the radio station.”

“It just stopped me in my tracks in that moment and God spoke to me. He said this is a gift I’ve given you. What are you going to use it for?”

That became a pivotal moment, not only in Zach’s music career but also in his marriage.

“From a hotel room when we got to the place we were going I called my wife, and told her that – once our tour was over – I was going to quit and cancel our shows. I think it was a ‘God moment’ for sure, because I’m pretty sure the night before she called my mom and told her we were going to divorce. It kind of changed things. I came home, and I did exactly what I said. I cancelled our shows, and I asked for forgiveness from her, from my kids, from our families.”

Zach Williams is the recording artist behind the #1 hit single Chain Breaker. He’s also a worship pastor, a husband, and a dad. His debut album, Chain Breaker, is available now.

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